The Collector

I had never been a real collector until some years ago, when I started in France. Before that I used to buy all the books from a certain author so I got the full story, but that was it. I did have some of those plane and dinosaur pieces that come with magazines but that was it, they all ended up in boxes somewhere. Back there in France, I was bored and something weird was going through my head so I started to look for toys from my childhood, mostly for My Little Pony, from the 80’s. I didn’t intend to collect them as I never got the collector thing.

Well unless you want to count the Madonna memorabilia I have been buying since I was a teenager… I had to buy all her albums, and if I could also the CD singles. Which is almost impossible or it was back then, because of all the different versions from different countries. I have to remind you that Amazon didn’t exist and buying online was almost impossible. The only way was the CD and Vinyl fairs that happened from time to time. I would go there with some money and try to get as much rarities as I could. Those were the days. Now you just Google it and buy from Japan with a clic of your thumb.

So I guess I always had that in me. Although I never got really aware of it or use to its full potential.

Back to my story. I started browsing on Ebay and having a look at what I wanted as a kid and never had. It quickly became fun to see all those forbidden toys so close to my reach after all these years. Of course I had a good job tho not perfect and I could afford spending some money on them.

I created an eBay account, and for buying I needed to create also a PayPal one. Back then you had to, nowadays they have their own payment system which is independent but not in 2015. I browsed the Internet back and forth as usual to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes or that I couldn’t get scammed. My cousins were already using it so they gave me some tricks, like never buying from Italy, and always checking the reviews. As a newbie I didn’t have any so it was not an easy task to buy from the sellers there. The only way was going to direct purchases and avoid the auctions, as well as paying straight away.

I started to get ponies coming home. It was thrilling and it made me so happy. I started to look for more classic ones, the ones I wanted as a kid, I made lists of the coveted ones and the ones I got. I looked how to repair them, or how to make new wings for the flutter ones. It was very fun. Until I met the Trash. La Basura.

First he found them fun. Then he said that I had obviously some issues with my childhood, my parents or myself and that was the reason I would buy toys, girls toys, as an adult. He sent me to therapy hoping that would be fixed. Funny enough is that I used to carry one pony with me all the time. Not always the same one, but one would come with me everywhere. The therapist found that OK, she asked me how I felt about it. I told her I felt a bit ashamed, but because of what he used to tell me. So she wanted to know how it was there. I explained that he was complaining I would spend my money on those f*cking ponies instead of in him, and that one day they would all end up in the fireplace.

I had leverage, he used to collect minifigures of Tintin, random cars, DVDs, books… All kinds of crapp but his were OK. Mine were stupid. So when I told about that to my shrink, she just asked me if it was an issue for me to spend money on that, and if it weren’t the case I should not pay attention to what he said. As I told her I could defend myself.

All the time we were together he used to make me feel ashamed of them. He would never gave me any as a gift, but I had to offer him figurines or posters of Tintin. He also invited his friends over and tried to make fun of me and my collection. It backfired. They found them cool, they didn’t know so many things could be done with them and how I was starting to customise them, reroot them and paint them. They thought I was amazing. He was furious.

In those days I looked on the Internet for forums and websites to learn more about the craft. I found places to buy fake hair, rerooting tools and even dye to changer their colors. I made lots of online friends and for once since I started I learned that men also collected ponies. They exist! I was not the only one.

Chatting with them online I started to realise how wrong I was to be with a person that never understood me and my collection, although he was a collector too, he never respected me. They were very supportive of me. I opened my eyes and came to see that he was not the one. Another reason to break up and go. So I did. I packed everything I owned and I left. I moved back to Spain.

Here I continued to grow my collection and make more customs. I came up to almost 600 items. I have bought some new releases recently but I must say I started to get bored of them. It felt like I had bought all the ones I wanted and I became dull until I stopped searching online for them. The last 3 I have bought are still in their boxes. One day I will probably end up opening them. Still, even if I don’t want to buy more and some have gone into storage, I’m not considering selling them off. The are important and have some memories that I am not ready to let go yet.

They used to be everywhere in my house. And I mean literally everywhere. Then something happened. I displayed my old collection of planes from years ago. Yes, those that were in boxes hidden in at my parent’s house. I saw on ebay they were actually a real deal. So I moved into the metal models collection.

I sold most of my previous collection and I started to collect airlines from the scale 1:500 which was cool because they are small and not very expensive. It quickly escalated and I had lots of tiny planes in my house. In shelves, that looked like a small airport, but soon more to an aircraft storage area. I made friends on ebay to buy from them and they quickly introduced me in that amazing world. I looked also online for websites that would sell them new. Until one day I went too far.

I was looking for a rare Eastern Airlines dc10, I started only collecting three and 4 engine aircrafts, then extended to more newer models and then it was more like if I fancied the model I would buy it. I went across my own boundaries time and time again, but it was fun. So I found that model I wanted but in a lager scale. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try it although they were bigger thus requiring more room and also more expensive. Big mistake because when I got it I fell in love with that size.

I started to buy only the ones I didn’t have or couldn’t find in the smaller scale. They had separate cabinets. Then I started to duplicate and I ended up my switching to the 1:400 one. I then thought I would sell them all and replace them with the new ones. So I did. I still have some that I haven’t been able to rehome, but I can say I made a good deal and got all my money back, and spent on new ones.

It also brought some side qualities or skills I earned with it. I rearranged the flat to make some room for all of them, and got very handy with building up cabinets and installing lights and glass shelves, doors or structures to keep them safe and as protected as possible. The driller and the electric screwdriver are my friends now, and I know exactly where to go for more accessories in case of needing them.

As for all. I am learning about those models, I can say I just kept on the path that had been put for me with the ponies. First I made an excel file where I have a trace of each and every model I own. I know which websites to search for the history of each and every registration they come with, whether the actual plane is still active or has been taken out of circulation. I also made new friends in the craft, I learned how to find the good deals, when possible, how to take the paint off or apply decals, basically how to customise them too. It’s not always a complete success but I am pretty happy with the results because it can be very tricky. There again I have found people that reject it very angrily, touching models is a sin for them, although those are the ones bitching about flaws the manufacturers make concerning the accuracy of the miniature.

Fortunately those people are the very few and easy to avoid. Most of the fellow collectors are very nice and friendly. Not so long ago we travelled to London for an aviation fair were we could meet some of them and it was a very interesting experience. I had already done that when I was collecting ponies, also in London, that’s a coincidence. I say we because this time I am not alone in this journey. Although my fiancé is not collecting, he has been very supportive to it since he met me. Very enthusiastic too, which is something really important and that I appreciate a lot consiwwhat I had in my life before. Having someone by your side that supports your (not so secret anymore) hobby is truly amazing.

And just like that I knew he is my special one.

December 2022